Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez are major influences to certain modern filmmakers, most of the time the results aren’t exactly likeable, nor even good to watch, but there are sometimes where the reference is maybe it’s only salvation, not because it imitates Tarantino or Rodríguez, but because it takes a similar route as them and makes the references and new ones their own, and thus, it makes it watchable and at times likeable. With all the conversation recently regarding the aesthetics of something called “Vulgar Auterism”, here comes along a movie that has a distinct style inside of its popular genre, and of those popular genres that Ernesto Díaz usually works in, but here comes the shock: he is an auteur, but he’d never be considered a vulgar auteur, and that is because he takes inspiration thematically and aesthetically from other directors that aren’t considered vulgar auteurs (mainly Rodriguez and Tarantino), and that is maybe because they are (somewhat) well regarded among the fans of the genre, while vulgar auterism focuses on maligned directors like those who direct the Fast & Furious movies or the Step Up dance flicks, thus, I have something to say about the whole thing: it seems as if you’re being a contrarian, nothing more, nothing else, I see more an auteur here in Díaz (specially after this film) than in any flash or colours or whatever action flare VA’s see in someone like Justin Lin… will they start considering James Wan (a true true auteur) a Vulgar Auteur now that he will direct the seventh installment of the neverending car-chasing franchise? I hope so, so I can crush them to the ground.

But enough of that silly debate (I’m kinda reactionary to the whole VA thing mainly because they seem so bitter when they get attacked based on facts and criticism, they seem to think that they are right all the time), in the end anyone is free to categorize cinema the way they want, as I’ll categorize this kind of films made in Chile: Not Really Ready For It Yet. Being the first film of the LatinXploitation brand that is starting, the film wants to reference the recent story of latinamerica without really doing so (the dubious name of the MachineGun woman has political resonances but they are never addressed) and featuring a multicultural cast featuring people from Argentina, Chile and other near-ish countries, with its tongue right on cheek the film uses stereotypes of the common life of Chile to advance not on its plot but to augment the humour of the situations in which the films ends up in. The MachineGun Woman, played by Fernanda Urrejola in a very sexy yet un-feminist way, is being looked for by Che Longana, an argentinian who is also controling the mafia through his own locale, he wants her head (of course, look at the title) and asks a bystander DJ of his disco, Santiago, to do it for him before he kills him, just because he was in the mood to do so. Our innocent protagonist then goes through a voyage into the depths of the hell of violence that seems to be under the skin of every city of the world, where he becomes immune to everything around him while he still tries to protects his mother from being killed with him if he fails in his assignment. It is when he starts his mission that the most impressive element of the film comes alive: the camera position while he gets on his car and the way the intertitles are used remind of the videogame series Grand Theft Auto.

Hence, we see our protagonist from a semi-aereal view, following his car from behind while the words (in the correct GTA font) spell out the missions he has to accomplish so he can get to the MachineGun Woman. I laughed a lot when that happened and I was also really impressed because it was one of those “original” elements that I hadn’t seen in a high profile (as much as this one can be) film, where videogames are so integrated to the visual style and to the plot of the film itself (eat your heart out Paul W.S. Anderson). There’s the main strength of the film, that and the performances, and also the way that the Tarantino and Rodriguez influences don’t prevent this from being its own film, it could even become part of another kinda ‘Grindhouse’ (2007) experiment, specially because it has the appropiate length for that. Hey, Ernesto, I have an idea for you. I recommend this film only for fans of his work and for those who don’t look to high up when they are searching for some entertainment at the movies.

Amicus Productions: Horror-Scifi

Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965)
The Skull (1965)
Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965)
The Psychopath (1966)
Dalek's Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. (1966)
The Terrornauts (1967)
The Deadly Bees (1967)
They Came from Beyond Space (1967)
Torture Garden (1967)
The Mind of Mr. Soames (1970)
The House That Dripped Blood (1971)
I, Monster (1971)
Tales from the Crypt (1972)
What Became of Jack and Jill? (1972)Asylum (1972)
The Vault of Horror (1973)-- And Now the Screaming Starts! (1973)
From Beyond the Grave (1974)
Madhouse (1974)
The Beast Must Die (1974)
The Land That Time Forgot (1975)
At the Earth's Core (1976)
The People That Time Forgot (1977)
The Monster Club (1981)

Hammer Pictures: Horror-Fantasy-Sci Fi

The Mystery of the Marie Celeste (1935)
Man in Black (1949)
Dick Barton Strikes Back (1949)
Dick Barton at Bay (1950)
Four Sided Triangle (1953)
Spaceways (1953)
The Quatermass Xperiment (1955)
X: The Unknown (1956)The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
Quatermass 2 (1957)
The Abominable Snowman (1957)
Tales of Frankenstein (1958)Dracula (1958)The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)
The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959)
The Mummy (1959)
The Stranglers of Bombay (1960)The Brides of Dracula (1960)
The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960)
The Terror of the Tongs (1961)
Taste of Fear (1961)
The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)
Shadow of the Cat (1961)
Captain Clegg (1962)
The Phantom of the Opera (1962)
Paranoiac (1963)
The Damned (1963)
Maniac (1963)
The Kiss of the Vampire (1963)
The Old Dark House (1963)
Nightmare (1964)
The Evil of Frankenstein (1964)
The Gorgon (1964)
The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964)
Fanatic (1965)
She (1965)
The Nanny (1965)
The Plague of the Zombies (1966)Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966)
The Reptile (1966)
Rasputin: The Mad Monk (1966)
The Witches (1966)
One Million Years B.C. (1966)
Slave Girls (1967)
The Mummy's Shroud (1967)
Frankenstein Created Woman (1967)
Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
Journey to Midnight (1968)
Journey into Darkness (1968)
The Vengeance of She (1968)
The Lost Continent (1968)
The Devil Rides Out (1968)
"Journey to the Unknown" (1968)Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968)
Frankenstein Must be Destroyed (1969)
Moon Zero Two (1969)Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970)
Crescendo (1970)
The Vampire Lovers (1970)
When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970)
The Horror of Frankenstein (1970)Scars of Dracula (1970)
Lust for a Vampire (1971)
Countess Dracula (1971)
Creatures the World Forgot (1971)
Twins of Evil (1971)
Blood from the Mummy's Tomb (1971)
Hands of the Ripper (1971)
Dr Jekyll & Sister Hyde (1971)
Vampire Circus (1972)Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)
Straight on Till Morning (1972)
Fear in the Night (1972)
Demons of the Mind (1972)The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973)
Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter (1974)
Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974)The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974)
To the Devil a Daughter (1976)
"Hammer House of Horror" (1980)
"Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense" (1984)
Flesh and Blood: The Hammer Heritage of Horror (1984)
Beyond the Rave (2008)
Let Me In (2010)The Resident (2011)